Best low-interest credit cards for December 2024

An easy way to determine whether your card has a desirable interest rate is to compare it to average credit card APRs. Currently, anything at or under 20 percent qualifies as a good interest rate for most consumers.

Your creditworthiness and financial health play an essential role in the interest rate of your credit card. The higher your credit score, the lower your interest rate could be.

With low-interest credit cards, the ongoing interest rate is lower than most other credit cards, on average. It may or may not include an intro APR offer. On the other hand, 0 percent interest credit cards are zero-interest for a certain time after opening the account, and then the regular APR kicks in, which may or may not be low. 

If your goal is strictly paying down debt, a 0 percent interest card definitely gives you an edge. However, if unexpected expenses raise your balance after the offer is over, it would be better to have a low-interest card.

People make mistakes. Sometimes, we forget to pay a bill, or we miss that grace period by a day. In times of widespread economic uncertainty, credit card issuers are offering assistance more than usual, making it possible to waive an interest charge. The only way to know if your credit card company will allow this is to ask, but make sure to keep your personal credit history in mind as you do.

Review your creditworthiness and financial health before you call up your card issuer. If you don’t regularly carry a balance, there is a chance that your issuer may waive the charge. Your issuer may be less likely to waive interest or late fees if you have a substantial balance. If this is the case, a balance transfer card may be worth considering to help avoid APR temporarily while you chip away at your debt. 

The Federal Reserve’s prime rate influences credit card interest rates, and the prime rate changes based on the judgment of federal regulators. Such decisions are largely based on the state of the national economy.

It depends on your goals. If you’re in a good place with your credit or don’t carry debt month-to-month, a cash back credit card can be a great advantage. However, if you want a long-term plan to pay off your debt, a cash back card can distract or tempt you to spend more. In that case, it’s better to use a low-interest credit card.

The primary factor in a balance transfer or low-interest card’s rating and its inclusion in our list is the quality of its introductory APR offer and ongoing APR. This includes both the introductory rate itself and the length of the intro APR on both balance transfers and new purchases. 

For cards designed primarily for balance transfers, the intro APR offer on balance transfers has the largest impact on overall score. The quality of these cards’ intro APR on new purchases is also considered, but holds less weight than the intro APR on balance transfers. 

For general low-interest cards, the intro APR offer on new purchases has the largest impact on overall score, followed by the ongoing APR and intro APR offer on balance transfers. This weighting assumes cardholders considering a card in this category will prioritize payment flexibility on new purchases or may need to carry a balance long term, whereas cardholders trying to pay off debt will opt for a dedicated balance transfer card.

The cards that score the highest in these categories and are most likely to be included in our list tend to offer long 0 percent intro APRs on both balance transfer and new purchases as well as a lower-than-average low-end APR.

Along with evaluating each card’s intro APR offers, we score balance transfer and low-interest cards based on their fees. 

Of primary importance is a card’s balance transfer fee, since this can play a large role in the total cost of a balance transfer. We rate each card’s balance transfer fee based on how it stacks up against the fee you’ll find on competing cards. 

While this fee carries less weight when we assess general low-interest cards than dedicated balance transfer cards, it still factors into our evaluation since cardholders may decide to transfer debt to a low-interest card even if it offers no intro APR or an intro APR higher than 0 percent.

And while a lower balance transfer fee could save you more overall than a few extra months of 0 percent intro APR, this fee carries less weight in our scoring system than a card’s introductory APR and intro APR period. This is because many users prioritize getting as much time as possible to pay off debt while avoiding interest. 

Other fees considered in our assessment include the presence of annual, foreign transaction, cash advance and late payment fees, along with penalty APRs. Annual fees are weighted most heavily since these are the only “unavoidable” fees in the list and tend to be less common on dedicated balance transfer and low-interest credit cards.

While getting a generous intro APR offer and low ongoing APR are likely to be the biggest priorities for someone looking for a low-interest or balance transfer card, we also consider how much value a card can offer after its intro APR comes to an end. 

Balance transfer and low-interest cards receive a higher rating and are more likely to be included in our list of best cards if they also include an ongoing rewards program or unique and valuable perks. Such features make a card more useful long term and make it less likely you’ll need to apply for a new card (and temporarily hurt your credit score) after you pay off debt.

With this in mind, our best cards list often includes a number of rewards and cash back cards alongside dedicated balance transfer cards. These cards tend to offer slightly shorter intro APR periods, but could help you save more overall, either via rewards earned on everyday spending, valuable perks or a lower balance transfer fee.